Chapter 1460: Welcoming the Master

Crown Prince Jinwu felt indignant, thinking, "Has this guy already been regarded as an equal opponent by my imperial father?"

Zu'an wondered, "What makes me so special that you value me so highly?"

He naturally understood the Demon Emperor's meaning: they were all in this together. If an extremely powerful being emerged later, it couldn't just be him fighting alone; they all had to act together.

Zu'an's group, with two Grandmasters, a Medusa Queen, and Zu'an's exceptionally fierce combat power, could certainly be relied upon.

At that moment, without waiting for a response, the Demon Emperor tossed a skull into Wu Liang's hand. "Here," he said, "go open that stone coffin in the middle."

The skull was crystal clear and shimmered with a unique glow, as if made of pure crystal.

This was something they had acquired on their previous journey. The Demon Emperor had noticed a special groove on the central stone platform, unmistakably shaped like a skull, so he instructed Wu Liang to try it.

Wu Liang secretly grumbled to himself, "Wasn't this Zu'an's job before?"

Despite his grumbling, he dared not disobey the Demon Emperor's command, fearing he might casually be given a puppet curse mark himself.

On a side note, he resolved to ask Zu'an how he had managed to undo the puppet curse mark once they got out.

As he thought, he cautiously approached the central stone platform. After carefully observing the surrounding runic arrays and confirming there were no deadly mechanisms, he slowly pushed the skull into the groove.

Witnessing all this, Zu'an secretly frowned. He thought, "Emperor Yao was a dignified ruler, generally considered a righteous figure. Why would he use something as sinister as a skull?"

Still, the crystal skull was quite beautiful...

Just then, a crisp click sounded as the crystal skull perfectly slotted into the groove.

Then, it seemed to be sucked in by something and sank directly downward.

Seeing Wu Liang still gripping the skull, Zu'an couldn't help but remind him, "Fatso, aren't you going to let go?"

The Demon Emperor and Crown Prince Jinwu also watched Wu Liang warily, wondering if the fatso had discovered something and intended to get a head start on the immortal fortune inside.

At that moment, Wu Liang cried out, his voice trembling, "I want to let go, but it's sucking me in! I can't release it!"

As he spoke, the skull extended out from the stone platform again. With sharp eyes, they quickly saw that Wu Liang's hands seemed to be suctioned onto the skull's surface by an unknown force, and no matter how hard he pulled, he couldn't tear them free.

Just then, red light suddenly emanated from the skull's eyes, and a malevolent, icy aura appeared out of nowhere. The Demon Emperor's expression changed, and he immediately took a step back.

Zu'an and the others felt an icy chill envelop their entire bodies. This was not the coldness of Yan Xuehen's Snowflake Divine Sword; it was more like an evil presence, causing their bodies to involuntarily stiffen.

Their expressions changed, and they quickly retreated.

Wu Liang, directly in the line of danger, was even more terrified and screamed, "Your Majesty, the Demon Emperor, save me, save me!"

The Demon Emperor frowned, showing no intention of intervening.

He seemed to want Wu Liang to test the waters and discover the true nature of the situation.

Zu'an frowned. This fatso had a certain connection with him, and ultimately, he couldn't just stand by and watch him die.

So, he directly struck towards Wu Liang's forearm with a hand-knife. Compared to one's life, what was the cost of a pair of hands?

In any case, high-level cultivators possessed self-healing abilities; with some spiritual herbs for recovery, new limbs might even grow back in a few years.

Wu Liang clearly understood his intention, and a hint of gratitude flashed in his eyes. He offered no resistance, intending to sacrifice his hands to escape.

To their surprise, as the wisp of blade qi neared him, a black vortex suddenly appeared on the skull's forehead and absorbed it.

Wu Liang also let out a miserable cry, feeling his life essence being rapidly drained away.

His two normally plump hands withered at a visible speed.

His plump cheeks also began to sink inward. He hastily tried to unleash his internal energy to sever his arms, but it was already too late; the force meant to sever his arms was, as expected, sucked away by the black hole.

He then had no strength left to resist and could only turn his head to look at the Demon Emperor, his lips trembling slightly: "Save... save me..."

He knew clearly that among all present, only the Demon Emperor had the power to save him.

To their surprise, the Demon Emperor remained indifferent. If the stone platform required a blood sacrifice to open, then Wu Liang was the only viable option among them.

Zu'an's group seemed to have very strong bonds; harming any one of them would shatter the fragile alliance between the two parties.

Besides them, he certainly couldn't sacrifice his own son.

Zu'an and his group found the sight unbearable, but unfortunately, things had reached this point, and they were powerless to intervene.

In the blink of an eye, Wu Liang, who had been as plump as a ball of flesh, was reduced to skin and bones, like a desiccated corpse.

Zu'an couldn't help but recall Sang Qian, who had died at the hands of the Mosquito Daoist years ago and looked exactly the same. Could a bloodline entity be sealed within this stone platform?

The fatso was truly pathetic; he had seemed so mysterious before, yet he died so easily.

At that moment, disturbances echoed around them. They looked up to see the clay on the surface of the two tall statues gradually flaking and falling off.

Immediately afterward, two powerful auras suddenly appeared in the hall, their strength rapidly ascending.

Yun Jianyue and Yan Xuehen simultaneously whispered a warning, "Be careful, that's the aura of peak Grandmasters. No, wait, the aura is still rising."

Zu'an's expression changed. "Could they be two Earth Immortals?" he wondered.

Not just Zu'an, even the Demon Emperor grew tense. He stared intently at the two statues; by now, all the clay around them had flaked off, revealing their original forms.

One was a massive, crimson, bear-like monster. It rubbed its head, seeming a bit groggy as if just waking up. Then, spotting the people in the hall, it pounded its chest with both fists, letting out roars of fury.

On the other side was a human-faced, snake-bodied monster with nine human heads. Each head's expression was extremely ferocious and distorted, as if it had endured some unbearable pain.

Immediately afterward, the light around its heads twisted, gradually merging them into a single head. Its body also grew smaller and smaller, finally transforming into the appearance of a handsome young gentleman, looking fragile and delicate, completely devoid of the ferocious and vicious appearance it had as a nine-headed snake.

The Demon Emperor, however, dared not underestimate him in the slightest. On the contrary, his expression when looking at the gentleman was even more solemn than when looking at the red giant bear.

Although the red giant bear monster was large and looked ferocious, its aura had only barely entered the Earth Immortal realm, leaving a considerable gap compared to the Demon Emperor's own power.

But this white-robed gentleman was completely different; his power surged rapidly, and currently, he seemed at least no weaker than the Demon Emperor himself.

Yan Xuehen and Yun Jianyue were giving a similar explanation to Zu'an and Yu Yanluo, making the hair on their bodies stand on end.

"Wait, the aura of these two is completely different from that sinister and evil aura from just now?" Zu'an suddenly realized a serious problem.

The Demon Emperor had been secretly relieved, fortunate that he hadn't clashed with Zu'an's group earlier. Now, he could handle the white-robed man himself, while Zu'an's group, along with Crown Prince Jinwu, could deal with the red bear. There shouldn't be much of a problem.

However, upon hearing Zu'an's words, he was instantly startled and abruptly looked towards the central stone platform.

At that moment, both the white-robed man and the crimson giant bear came to the stone platform, knelt on one knee, and declared, "Welcome, Master!"